Apparently shoes are recession-proof. Shoe-shine businesses in the City are up as ex-bankers smarten up their interview image, while The British Retail Consortium reports Brits buy less of everything except food and shoes. Excellent priorities. We might actually be that old lady who lives in her (shiny) shoe come Christmas, but, dammit, we'll have our turkey.

So I now feel entitled, nay, obliged, to go and spend. Browns are turning their Brook Street store into a shoe shop - stocking men's and women's labels along with a pedicurist and shoe repair services for your new Louboutins and Lanvins, as well as exciting exclusives sure to turn a nice heel.

Meanwhile, new cobblers, Lodger, provide custom made British and Italian classics with cutting edge technology and old school charm. Their ready-to-wear almond brogue is already proving a firm favourite in the UJ office, whilst bespoke shoes of the month come with your name hand-written inside them.

TODAY'S EVENT PICKS

15 contemporary artists denounce their usual media in favour of hand-woven silk tapestry. 11am - 6pm, The Dairy, 7 Wakefield Street WC1N. Free.

Video games as musical inspiration at tonight's Cybersonica Social. 7pm to
11pm, The Flea Pit, 49 Columbia Road, E2. £4.

Modern teenage life is summed up by I caught Crabs in Walberswick. Yum. 8pm, Bush Theatre, 2 Shepherd's Bush Green, London, W12, £13.

Two american artists poke fun at the world through layering in Collective Disorder. 11am - 7pm, 81 Westbourne Park Road, W2. Free.